God Sent His Only Son
I remember holding my first born son in my arms. There was no greater joy! I held his little hand in mine in awe at the tiny size of each of his fingers… and, oh, those little feet! I prayed that they would only carry him in God’s perfect will and plan. The love that I had for him was beyond words. I would have given him the world if it had been mine to give. Suppose I had been asked to offer him as a sacrifice for the world. Could I have freely handed him to those who would nail him to a cross? Could I have stood back and watched him suffer and die? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16). God gave the ultimate sacrifice, His Son, for the world. The Father watched His Son so oppressed in the Garden of Gethsemane that His sweat became as great drops of blood (Mt. 26:38). He saw His Son grabbed up and drug to the tormentors. He was whipped, a crown of thorns was pressed down upon His head, and He was nailed to a cross. His torture was so severe. Jesus truly suffered the punishment for every sin of every person. “Surely He hath borne our griefs (distress, weakness, sickness), and carried our sorrows (affliction, pain); yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed (Is. 53:4&5). Jesus could have called twelve legions of angels to deliver Him, but He chose not to (Mt. 26:53). How? “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). There was a joy that Jesus looked to, and it was fulfilling God’s plan for the redemption of all mankind. Christmas is certainly about Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus was in flesh. He never sinned nor came short of the glory of God. Did Mary know when she held her first-born son that His body would be hung on a cross? Did she know that nails would pierce those hands and feet? Did she know the brow that she kissed would someday bear a crown of thorns? More than that, did she know that Jesus would be raised from the dead, ascend to the Father, and be glorified?! Yes, He, Jesus, is now the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He is coming again to take the born-again with Him to Heaven. Jesus? …Yes, Mary’s Son, but also, her Savior and Lord. Amen!